Chapter 405 – Episode 397. Excitement Is Bad! (1)

[Ji Maeng-ho! I rolled it up! This hit goes over the fence! It disappears! In the bottom of the first inning, Korea succeeds in coming back! At the center was Ji Maeng-ho once again!]

[This is Ji Maeng-ho! I love you! I was aiming for the perfect changeup! … Huh?]

[Uh? Ji Maeng-ho’s unique sniping ceremony came out… ?]

[Ah, this is the starting point…, It’s a suppression of the momentum, right? Choi Joo-tae’s hit-by-pitch ball may have had an impact. What this means is, don’t guess our players from now on. Still, I never thought a ceremony like this would happen at the Olympics, but Ji Maeng-ho is still the same.]

– HahaJi Maeng-ho crazy bastard is doing that at the Olympics haha

┗At least 1 million views haha

-Wow, you’re crazy? A celebration against Gerrit Cole.

┗But if you do that, won’t empty balls start flying right away?

┗┗But it’s the semifinals, so you never know.

┗┗I think it’s 100% correct haha

-Ah, that kid doesn’t even think about the team. If he does this, he’ll get hit.

┗Hmm… Isn’t it advantageous to get on base even if it’s an empty ball? Honestly, other than Ji Maeng-ho, I don’t see anyone else like Chil?

┗┗LOL Did you see that far? ㅇㅅㅁㅎㅅ

A come-from-behind home run that follows immediately after giving up the first run. That alone caused an uproar, but when Ji Maeng-ho’s patented ceremony, the ‘Sniper Ceremony’, appeared, Korean baseball fans were filled with excitement.

No, not only Korean baseball fans but also fans around the world watching baseball were equally excited.

-This is my first time seeing a ceremony like that. What did you just do? He aimed the bat like a gun!

┗Wasn’t there something posted on Reddit last year? It was famous among baseball fans.

┗┗Lol Is it okay to do that in baseball?

┗┗Of course, no.

┗I think that player lacks respect for baseball.

┗It’s time for Cole’s fastball to catch fire again.

┗I thought it was fun? Of course, it’s unfortunate that we hit a home run.

┗┗I think so too! To be honest, baseball isn’t fun these days, so maybe I should learn something like that.

┗It’s nice to see a ceremony like that against Cole,

┗┗I know you’re a Red Sox fan. Still, this is a national competition, so why not support it?

┗┗Fuck you! It’s been a pleasure of mine to see the Yankees get beat up. Fuck the yanks

And, not only the fans but also the American players were equally excited.

“Fuck! Fuck!”

Gerrit Cole, who struck out and hit the remaining three batters after hitting a home run by Ji Maeng-ho, threw his glove and screamed as soon as he entered the dugout. There was no colleague who could approach Gerrit Cole who was so furious.

“Calm down, Gary.”

“Does it look real? Did you see what that bastard just did?”

“…”

At least his teammate Judge approached him, but there was no pitcher who could calm his excitement after seeing such a ceremony in front of him.

“You bastard, I will kill you.”

“… Still, keep in mind that it’s the Olympics.”

Of course, in the meantime, Gerrit Cole was a little cold-hearted. Because he didn’t throw an empty ball to the next batter. Even if he saved an empty ball to throw to Ji Maeng-ho, the fact that the pitcher had that much patience meant that he was conscious of the fact that this stage was the Olympic stage.

‘Tsk, the selection didn’t last long.’

But most of the players in the dugout were feeling it. It is virtually impossible for Gerrit Cole to stay on the mound for a long time. Being hot-tempered is a basic requirement for pitchers, but a player who is excited even on the mound will not produce good results in the end.

In fact, you could tell how angry the pitcher was by looking at the pitch he was throwing to other Korean batters. Fortunately, Korean batters were unable to attack Gerrit Cole’s fastball, but it is not strange to hit a home run at any time…

Pitchers in that state were like bombs that could explode at any time. And the players gathered in the dugout are all the best baseball players in the world. There was no player here who would not feel something was wrong with Gerrit Cole.

Like that…,

[Swing strike! Out! The bat is dragged by Seonghyeon’s outside fastball, and Freeman strikes out!]

[Great. Great. It’s obvious that Seonghyeon is a very experienced player, right? It seems that the American batters have noticed that they have become more impatient after Ji Maeng-ho’s home run and the comeback. I was worried that Arenado allowed the lead batter to walk, but I am glad.]

[Seonghyun becomes stronger when there are runners! Now the situation becomes 1 out, 1 base.]

… America’s hitters are starting to get impatient. And Seonghyun was not a pitcher who missed such opportunities. The reason Seong-Hyun challenged for the Cy Young Award despite having a velocity around 150 and a fastball with below-average pitch value was revealed on this important stage of the Olympic semifinals.

‘Again, fastball?’

‘No, let’s go with a change-up now. It feels strange.’

‘Okay.’

In addition, the catcher who is working with Seonghyun is Korea’s best catcher Lee Yong-gi, who has been working with the same team for 6 months. Lee Yong-gi was recognized for his hitting, but Lee Yong-gi’s real strength was in his catcher lead.

As the saber matrix became widely known among baseball fans, it was a time when the story that there was no catcher lead was accepted as a canon, but there was clearly a catcher lead. Because catcher lead is not just about ball combination.

Analyzing batters’ batting postures and detecting minute differences in their batting forms, as Lee Yong-gi does now, or changing the ball combination by looking at the strange atmosphere emanating from the batter’s box were also ways for catchers to lead pitchers.

Lee Yong-gi was feeling that atmosphere after seeing the batters who came out after the comeback home run. It feels like the swing has grown strangely, and the batters seem strangely excited.

‘Changeup, outward.’

Of course, if a pitcher had poor ball control, it was all meaningless, but Seonghyun was once a pitcher who boasted the best ball control in the major leagues. During his prime, he was even compared to Maddox. If you had to pick a pitcher who is good at leading, and a player who best fits that description, that pitcher would be Seong Hyun.

And just as he requested, Seonghyeon’s ball lands in the mitt. And Turner’s swing, which misses the ball greatly.

“Strike!”

Turner’s larger swing proved that his feelings were not wrong.

‘The swing has definitely grown since Meng Hao’s home run. The timing is quick too. Is it because of the ceremony? It felt like shit when I got hit, but I’m glad we’re on the same team?’

Lee Yong-gi smiled as he watched Maeng-ho concentrating on his at-bat near the second base and then focused on the batter again.

‘Turner… I’m quick on my feet, but I’m not very good at starting pitching, so I try to stay close to the borderline as much as possible…’

Perfect!

Once again, Turner’s bat came out on Seonghyun’s changeup, which flowed low to the outside. This time too, the hit was towards the shortstop.

“Out!”

“… Safe!”

Because he was a fast hitter, he couldn’t induce a double play, but he got two outs.

‘Since Turner is a runner, he will definitely run, right? Shall we win with a fastball? ‘How are you?’

‘Courage, let’s just focus on typing.’

‘Okay.’

Sometimes, when Lee Yong-gi made a wrong decision, Seong-hyeon corrected the ball combination and the two continued to work together.

[Swing, and Turner’s attempt to steal! Lee Yong-gi threw the ball, but it was safe at second base.]

[As expected, he is a player with quick feet. However, if you get one more out count, the inning is over, so you don’t have to worry about the runner at all.]

[Strike out! Seonghyun strikes out Smith! In the top of the second inning, the U.S. Attack was blocked without allowing any runs.]

In front of the battery of Seong-hyun and Lee Yong-gi, who have been working together on the same team for about half a year, the excited American hitters pile up the out count.

[Now Korea’s attack begins in the bottom of the second inning. … Strike out! … Ah, this batted ball flies high in the infield. Two out. … Suho Kim gets a walk! … Strike out. Gerrit Cole struck out Kang Han-beom and put one batter on base, but ended the inning with no runs!]

-Gerrit Cole came to his senses after hitting a home run against a fierce defender.

┗ㅅㅂ The ball is perfect.

-Wow, that’s so fucking aggressive. But it’s all in the zone, but I can’t get it right

┗If it’s a joke to get into the zone, will Gerrit Cole compete for Cy Young? This is reality

[… Out! … This batted ball goes far. Center fielder Joo Seung-cheol follows! Catch it! Joo Seung-cheol shows off a great diving catch! Two outs with this! … Strike! Out! Seonghyun struck out Trout at the end of a full-count game, creating the first three-way inning of the day! Korea goes into the bottom of the 3rd inning with a 1-point lead!]

-Joo Seung-cheol’s defense is crazy hahaThat kid really looks like he’s going to the majors

-Wow, has Seonghyun rejuvenated? Haha,

┗Honestly, looking at this season’s record, it seems like it would have worked in the majors

┗┗ㄹㅇㅋ

-Let’s just go like this until episode 9!!!

[Gerrit Cole strikes out Joo-Tae Choi, striking out three pitches. 100.1 miles is stamped on the electronic sign?]

[Gerrit Cole in 2022? From that point on, he was barely throwing a pitch over 100 mph, so unfortunately he’s got a little bit of velocity today. It’s a bit crowded, but it’s hard to hit a ball like that.]

[Now at the plate is Ji Maeng-ho, who hit a come-from-behind two-run hit in the bottom of the first inning.]

-The fierce god of defense has arrived!!!!

┗There will be empty balls, right?

┗┗100% haha

┗┗Let’s not get injured…

– Maengho, don’t just say you’re going to get on base, but avoid the ball when it comes to you. Without you, our team will fail.

… And one out in the bottom of the third inning. Ji Maeng-ho, who Gerrit Cole was waiting for, came to bat.

*

‘That guy’s eyes are unusual, aren’t they?’

If you looked at your parents’ enemies, would they look like that? Gerrit Cole’s eyes were burning. I think if you could kill someone with your eyes, it would be this kind of eyes. And there is only one reason why the pitcher has eyes like that.

‘After all, it’s an empty ball, right?’

‘Then you thought you wouldn’t get hit after holding a ceremony like that?’

Also… As I entered the batter’s box, I glanced at the catcher and saw that the catcher’s body was leaning too much towards me.

“[Stop staring? In Korea, does the batter glance at the catcher?]”

The catcher must have sensed my gaze and said something.

“[Fuck you.]”

Since an empty ball was scheduled anyway, I cursed at the catcher and waited for Rossby’s next words.

‘Fastball.’

Gerrit Cole’s fastball is 100 mph. … It must still hurt, right? I hated being sick. Moreover, if it hit the bone, it didn’t end up being painful.

Gerrit Cole’s burning eyes are looking at me, not at Mitt. A signal that you will definitely get it right. After the guy winds up, the ball leaves his hand. The destination is, of course, my body!

‘Er, I don’t know.’

The moment I step back, his fastball passes through where my body was just moments ago and lands in my mitt.

“… Ball.”

The speed shown on the electronic display board was 99.8 miles (160.5 km/h). Because I was expecting it, it wasn’t difficult to avoid even if it was a 100 mph ball. If it were a league, I would have rushed to it right away, but unfortunately, this stage is the Olympics. If you clear the bench and get sent off, the game becomes difficult. Especially, if the target is me. I had to hit at least 3 home runs today, so getting ejected now wasn’t the right thing to do.

“[Are you a coward? If you avoid this time, it will be your colleagues next time. You know very well why your colleagues have not been hit yet.]”

“[… They say they will blatantly agree, but they don’t sanction it?]”

“[… It’s a warning.]”

“[Sorry. I made a threat once. In fact, I think it got out of hand. You know. Control is not very good. Sometimes it falls out of my hand like this.]”

“[Then there is nothing we can do about it.]”

‘Is that the end? It’s not like the bastards are playing around. Is this because of home advantage?’

The referee said it was a warning. But the referee was telling me with his eyes to hit me quickly and finish it. He knew very well that American baseball was very old-fashioned. According to the unwritten rule, the referee recognized that my actions were worthy of being hit. But…,

‘Are you crazy? ‘To hit 160?’

It might be 140, but I never thought about getting hit by a 160 ball.

‘If it comes out like this, I have an idea too.’

An amazing way to protect your colleagues and avoid getting hit.

‘Fastball. ‘Why don’t you just take one hit and be done with it?’

‘Are you crazy? ‘According to that.’

Gerrit Cole does the windup again. And a 160 fastball thrown.

‘Fuck it, let’s do it!’

His ball flies toward my body again. And I dodged his ball like I thought…,

“[Dangerous!]”

… She pretended to swing the bat and threw it toward the mound.